Matthew Lewis Opened Up About Whether He'll Ever Play Neville Longbottom Again

The magic had to end sometime.

After all those long years, Matthew Lewis must have a love-hate relationship with playing poor, forgetful Neville Longbottom, the underdog of the ​Harry Potter​ films. Lewis, who had to wear false teeth and a fat suit for much of the eight films, has talked about that on-set struggle — especially when you're going through puberty and your self-esteem is already at an all-time low. But he and Neville both grew out of that awkward phase, and Mr. Longbottom came out of ​Deathly Hallows Part 2​ as a victorious hero. (As for Matt, like, have you ​seen​ his Instagram lately? All you need to know. )

But would he ever return to the boy wizard who gave him his start? Not really. "“I feel like the story arch that Jo wrote and that we tried our best to put on screen was a complete one," he said over the weekend at the 3rd annual Celebration of ​Harry Potter​ in Orlando, Florida. “I took that journey and finished it the way I wanted to. He will always hold a fun place in my heart, but I don’t feel like there is more that I can do with Neville. I’m happy to leave him.”

Now, before you cry at the idea that we'll never get to actually watch Matt-as-Neville settled down as the professor of Herbology with Hannah Abbott by his side, let's consider this: he played the character for 8 movies. That's a lot of filming, and a lot of character development, and we can only imagine how much he was itching to try something new after all that time.

Never fear, though: Matt's already proven how keen he is to take on new projects and films, so he's not going anywhere any time soon. And hey, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint have all moved on from their iconic characters, too, and now other people are getting the chance to bring them to life...and on the stage in London's West End, no less. It's the natural progression of Hollywood.

At least we'll always have the films — and weekend movie marathons on TV — to remind us of happier times.